Gestational diabetes

Hello everyone,

My name is Cali and I am currently 29w2d along with my 3rd child. I
have two daughters and have not found out the gender of this coming
child.

I have been lurking here for several weeks and now have a question that
I think you all can answer. I was recently diagnosed with gestational
diabetes. I would be interested in the information showing that insulin
is not necessarily a good idea with GD. From reading the posts here I
know that some of you are very knowledgeable on this subject and I would
be interested in any research sources you may have.

TIA,

Cali
EDD #3 5/31/04
Mom to:
J. 8/14/96
E. 4/12/00

"Matthew Beasley" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Hello everyone,

My name is Cali and I am currently 29w2d along with my 3rd child. I
have two daughters and have not found out the gender of this coming
child.

I have been lurking here for several weeks and now have a question that
I think you all can answer. I was recently diagnosed with gestational
diabetes. I would be interested in the information showing that insulin
is not necessarily a good idea with GD. From reading the posts here I
know that some of you are very knowledgeable on this subject and I would
be interested in any research sources you may have.

TIA,

Cali
EDD #3 5/31/04
Mom to:
J. 8/14/96
E. 4/12/00


It's not that insulin isn't a good idea, it's just that it isn't the first
thing that should be done once the diagnosis is made. You should meet with
a dietician to go over the diabetic diet (very similar to Atkins in that it
is higher protein but you do get carbs) and keep a log of your daily blood
sugars (4x day usually) over a week or so and then see if you are able to
keep it under control. I mentioned in another post today that I did ask to
be put on insulin in my 2nd pregnancy because I was so tired by 33 weeks
(having twins), that I just wasn't up to doing all the meal preparation
necessary to stay on the diet. And the insulin didn't really hurt all that
much, it wasn't a regular syringe and I didn't even have to look when I
injected it into my thigh.

Leigh in raLeigh

Matthew Beasley wrote:

Hello everyone,

My name is Cali and I am currently 29w2d along with my 3rd child. I
have two daughters and have not found out the gender of this coming
child.

I have been lurking here for several weeks and now have a question that
I think you all can answer. I was recently diagnosed with gestational
diabetes. I would be interested in the information showing that insulin
is not necessarily a good idea with GD. From reading the posts here I
know that some of you are very knowledgeable on this subject and I would
be interested in any research sources you may have.

The book put out by the Cochrane Group (_A Guide
to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth_, by Enkins,
et al.) has a section on GD (actually, they always call
it "gestational diabetes" in quotes, as they seem to
think that the term itself is somewhat problematic).
They say that based on the evidence to date, the use of
insulin for gestational diabetes would be considered
unethical in some circles.
Henci Goer has a chapter on GD in her book _Obstetric
Myths versus Research Realities_ that has lots of cites and
an annotated bibliography.
Basically, there isn't a lot of good research
to date, but what there is is inconsistent. In general,
it shows that sometimes you can make babies smaller using
insulin (though you may not be making the right babies
smaller), but it's not the macrosomia per se that's the
problem. It's generally the increased risk of c-sections
or shoulder dystocia that comes from macrosomia that's
worrisome, and the risk of those things hasn't been
shown to be reduced by the use of insulin.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Cali spake thusly

I have been lurking here for several weeks and now have a question that
I think you all can answer. I was recently diagnosed with gestational
diabetes. I would be interested in the information showing that insulin
is not necessarily a good idea with GD. From reading the posts here I
know that some of you are very knowledgeable on this subject and I would
be interested in any research sources you may have.


Hi Cali

The absolute best resource for information I have found on GD is:
http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/gd/gd_index.html

Despite the URL, it's not just for "plus-size" folks. It discusses the
major issues surrounding GD and the corresponding controversies, as well
as dealing with the more practical aspects of living with GD.

Good luck!
--
Maggie
EDD 28 April #1